Use 'Gay' Instead of 'Queer'

To the editors:

Re "BGLTSA Uses Ribbons to Promote Awareness" (News, Feb. 13): I was appalled that you would use the term "queers" to describe gay people. Being from the South, that word still conjures up bad memories and just sounds nasty and derogatory. For future reportage, it is gay, not queer. JON WHITNEY   Hoboken, N.J., Feb. 13, 1998